View of Key Knowledge and Skills Obtained from the Ohio EPA Internship
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ABSTRACT WATER QUALITY INTERNSHIP WITH THE OHIO ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY Lemuel Alejandro Del Valle During the summer of 2015 I had the opportunity to intern at the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency. I worked in the Central District Office in the Division of Surface Water in Columbus, Ohio. My responsibilities were focused around water quality monitoring of various lakes and streams within the state. Lakes sampled included Buckeye Lake, Grand Lake St. Marys, other lakes within the Ohio State Parks system, and drinking water reservoirs. Streams were sampled for varying projects including ambient water quality sampling. The other part of my internship dealt with storm water inspections at construction sites within the Central EPA District. Inspections determined compliance with the general construction permit. This meant assessing sediment and erosion controls and how these controls were implemented for each site. The various types of water quality monitoring will be used to address pressing water quality issues such as nutrient loading and harmful algal blooms, wastewater discharge, and sediment pollution. WATER QUALITY INTERNSHIP WITH THE OHIO ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY An Internship Report Submitted to the Faculty of Miami University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Environmental Science Institute of the Environment and Sustainability by Lemuel Alejandro Del Valle Miami University Oxford, Ohio 2016 Advisor: Sarah Dumyahn Reader: Jonathan Levy Reader: Bartosz Grudzinski This Internship Report Titled WATER QUALITY INTERNSHIP WITH THE OHIO ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY by Lemuel Alejandro Del Valle has been approved for publication by The College of Arts and Science and Department of the Institute for the Environment and Sustainability Sarah Dumyahn Jonathan Levy Bartosz Grudzinski Table of Contents Table of Contents ................................................................................................................................. iii List of Tables ......................................................................................................................................... iv List of Figures ......................................................................................................................................... v Acknowledgments............................................................................................................................... vi Chapter 1: Introduction and Background .................................................................................... 1 Harmful Algal Blooms ................................................................................................................................... 1 The Clean Water Act and Nutrient Pollution ......................................................................................... 2 Ohio Environmental Protection Agency Background ........................................................................ 3 Ohio EPA Division of Surface Water ......................................................................................................... 6 Chapter 2 Buckeye Lake and Grand Lake St. Marys .................................................................. 9 Buckeye Lake History .................................................................................................................................... 9 Buckeye Lake Dam ....................................................................................................................................... 11 Grand Lake St. Marys History ................................................................................................................... 11 Ohio EPA Water Quality Monitoring at Buckeye Lake and Grand Lake St. Marys .................. 13 Chapter 3 Inland Lakes & Tetra Tech Study .............................................................................. 17 Tetra Tech ....................................................................................................................................................... 22 Lake Alma ........................................................................................................................................................ 23 Kiser Lake ........................................................................................................................................................ 26 Rose Lake ......................................................................................................................................................... 29 Drinking Water Reservoirs ....................................................................................................................... 29 Chapter 4 Other Water Quality Projects ..................................................................................... 30 Storm Water ................................................................................................................................................... 30 General Permit OHC000004 .................................................................................................................................... 32 Antidegradation Categories ...................................................................................................................... 34 Ambient Water Quality Monitoring ........................................................................................................ 36 Biomonitoring ................................................................................................................................................ 37 Chapter 5 Reflection on IES Experience ..................................................................................... 39 Appendix A ........................................................................................................................................... 44 Appendix B ........................................................................................................................................... 46 Regular Letter Template ............................................................................................................................ 46 No Construction Template ......................................................................................................................... 47 Notice of Termination Template ............................................................................................................. 49 References ............................................................................................................................................ 51 iii List of Tables Table 1 Ohio Designated Uses and Subcategories . .................................................................................... 3 Table 2 Ohio Divisions and Offices in alphabetical order ...................................................................... 4 Table 3 Parameters analyzed in water column samples ..................................................................... 15 Table 4 Sample Locations .................................................................................................................................. 15 Table 5 Parameters measured for Water Chemistry ............................................................................ 16 Table 6 Sample Locations .................................................................................................................................. 16 Table 7 Tetra Tech Study Lakes and Locations ........................................................................................ 22 Table 8 Permanent Stabilization .................................................................................................................... 33 Table 9 Temporary Stabilization ................................................................................................................... 33 Table 10 Overview of key knowledge and skills obtained from the Ohio EPA internship .... 39 iv List of Figures Figure 1 District Offices. …………………………………………………………………………………………………5 Figure 2 Organization of the Central District Office Division of Surface Water . .......................... 6 Figure 3 Overview of the water quality focal areas during my internship with the Ohio EP.. 8 Figure 4 Buckeye Lake ...……………………………………...……………………………………………….……….10 Figure 5 Grand Lake St. Marys ………………………………………..…………………………....……………….12 Figure 6 Using a tube sampler in Buckeye Lake ……………………………………………………………..20 Figure 7 Samples composited in a churn splitter on Buckeye Lake………………………………….21 Figure 8 Lake Alma State Park ………………………………………………………………………………………24 Figure 9 Kiser Lake State Park ........................................................................................................................ 26 Figure 10 State Resource Waters 2015 Sampling Site……………………………………………………..35 Figure 11 2015 Ambient Sampling Sites .................................................................................................... 37 v Acknowledgments I would like to thank my major professor on this internship report, Dr. Sarah Dumyahn, for her continuous support and understanding throughout the writing process. I was thinking clearly the day I asked for her help and I am happy to have done so. This report and I have only benefitted from her wisdom and helpfulness. I would also like to thank Dr. Jonathan Levy and Dr. Bartosz Grudzinski as committee members. They have provided me with insight